Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

I’ve worked with various forms of epoxy. It offers a wonderful form of modern covering and/or adhesive. And I think it offers a good illustration of what John is stating here. As you know, almost all epoxy glues and resins come in two parts—the resin base and the catalyst or hardener. The easiest epoxy products to work with are those where the two parts are mixed in equal proportions (1 to 1). Of course, there is no value or permanence of one without the other. Only as they are mixed with each other in proper ratio do they form a strong and lasting bond.

Insofar as your personal salvation and permanent eternal life are concerned, your own life and strength, in and of themselves, are as weak and unstable as water. And even though God’s Word is eternally permanent (“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35.), it is also weak and unstable in making you personally and eternally permanent—unless you cooperate with the Maker to properly mix it into your life. Jesus certainly did not speak idle words when He quoted, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). In other words, “A person’s eternal permanence is not established by means of physical processes or human effort, but by the intake of God’s Word and making its principles and precepts to be infused into every area of living.”

Listen again to what Peter has to say on the subject: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable (impermanent) seed, but of imperishable (permanent), through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:22-25).

In view of all this, David is a terrific role model when he says, “I have hidden (mixed) your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (and made to be permanent)” (Psalm 119:11).